Moreland Council Design Excellence Scorecard

On behalf of the Association, he attended a meeting in relation to the Moreland Council Design Excellence Scorecard, which aims to lift standards and design excellence and improve the built form and environment throughout the Moreland community.

Tim was concerned to note that the draft proposal included (amongst other things) that

‘The development must achieve all three items’…the third item being:

“The proposal is designed by a registered architect. A commitment to ongoing involvement of the architect starting from the planning permit stage through to the construction stage to ensure design quality.”

Tim quickly identified that this was a restriction of trade against Building Designers who are trained in this form of design and delivery.

He drew Moreland’s Senior Urban Designer’s attention to the following:

Professional issues concerning the ACCC

The ACCC has identified four broad issues of concern across all professions that may lead to breaches of the law.

Reservation of work or monopoly by one profession when another has the credentials to also do the work.

He also emphasised that the proposal for reviewing and assessing plans on various items cannot have an anti-competitive clause such as this in the Design Excellence Scorecard, and that it amounted to a restriction of trade in the draft Design Excellence Scorecard.

As a result, Moreland have amended the wording to “architect or building designer”.

Tim’s input towards this outcome was acknowledged by the BDAV’s Committee of Management.